“We Demand A Public Inquiry Not Police Probe”

The Association of Concerned Ghanaians in Europe (ACGIE) is surprised, disappointed and reject outright the decision by President John Dramani Mahama requesting the Police to probe into the events leading to the brutalization of peaceful demonstrators on Wednesday 16 September.

Like all fair-minded Ghanaians the world over, ACGIE finds it rather strange that the President would ask the Ghana Police Service, the very institution that has perpetrated such grievous acts of atrocities to conduct the probe. This, to say the least is rather offensive and an insult to the intelligence of Ghanaians.

Per his own public pronouncements the President acknowledges and in fact admits the gravity of the Police brutality on the said date and how such reckless police misconduct threatens our freedoms and undermines our democracy. Having openly admitted to the wrongfulness of the Police action, what most Ghanaians expected from the President was a Public Commission of Inquiry to delve into the circumstances surrounding the unprovoked shooting and maiming of unarmed and peaceful demonstrators.

An important strand of the principle of natural justice is that one cannot sit in judgement of his own case. In ordinary parlance one cannot be a referee and a player at the same. Against this backdrop, ACGIE is convinced that the cause of justice would not be served if the Police who have been implicated in this tragic shooting are the very people to conduct the probe. Clearly, the outcome of such a probe is a forgone conclusion because the leadership of the Police administration have already on several occasions through various media outlets tried to justify their actions albeit without success. Consequently, it would be a travesty of justice if they are allowed to conduct the probe as indicated by President Mahama.

We would want to believe that for once the President is being sincere in his condemnation of the reckless action by the Police. However, we find it paradoxical that while the President condemned the shooting and molestation of the demonstrators by the Police, Miss/Mrs Joyce Bawah Morgtar, Deputy Minister for Transport was on the Television (News file) desperately trying to defend and justify the very action that President Mahama had earlier condemned. In fact the Deputy Minister’s stance is the exact opposite of what the President told Ghanaians while attending a festival in the Volta Region. In this confused state of affairs who can we trust to be telling us the true position of government? President Mahama or Mrs Joyce Bawah Mogtar?

Even distasteful is the attempt by the Mrs Joyce Bawah Mogtar not only to downplay and deny the seriousness of the injuries caused by Police brutalities but also to defend the indefensible. Interestingly, the Deputy Minister according to our information is a Lawyer by profession. If indeed that is the case, then we dare say that she is a disgrace to the Legal Profession and an embarrassment to President Mahama who appointed her. As we speak one of the demonstrators by name Justice Adzakuma has lost one of his eyes while several others who have sustained various degrees of injuries are undergoing treatment at different health facilities.

In view of the importance we attach to the life of every single Ghanaian, ACGIE calls for the setting up of a Commission of Inquiry to carry out a thorough investigation into the incident so that we as a nation can put an end to this culture of impunity as demonstrated by the Ghana Police Service last Wednesday.

We also call on Parliament to invite the Minister of Interior and the Inspector General of Police to come and explain to the people of Ghana why the Police acted the way they did during the Let My Vote Count Alliance (LMVCA) demonstration.

ACGIE wishes to reiterate that we would accept nothing less than an Independent Public Commission of Inquiry to help us cure the persistent police brutalities and excesses witnessed on Wednesday 16 September 2015. Asking the Police to Probe the Police is a non-starter and indeed a recipe for cover-up.

Signed
Kwaku Anane-Gyinde
Secretary
ACGIE
Tel.00447424755460